Inamorato Altercation
by Wendigo
Summary: Lily Evans and James Potter have thrice defied Lord Voldemort, according to the prophecy. My take on what happened, which starts in their sixth year at Hogwarts.
1. Slowly

Author's Note: Well, it's been a few years since I've written anything here, but for some reason unbeknownst to myself, I'm back! Hopefully I can spit out a chapter a day until I head back to school next week. Just to let you know, some of this information isn't factual to the books so if anything comes up as a little off, you don't have to say anything about it. I know it's not perfect! The main thing I'm concerned with is the story, although I try to look back to the books in my free time, which is dwindling as I prepare myself for another semester. So enjoy, and as always, review!  
  
Disclaimer: I own none of the Harry Potter characters or places. This all comes from the brilliant mind of JK Rowling.  
  
"From you I withdrew and I'm sorry  
  
I live with this slowly.  
  
I swear that I knew you well…  
  
The words I left out  
  
were the ones that I felt."  
  
-Rustic Overtones  
  
"Slowly"  
  
Chapter One: Slowly  
  
"Oh for the sake of Merlin Mr. Potter! Do we have to go through this every time you take an exam?!" Professor Minerva McGonagall, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry exclaimed as she leaned over James Potter's school desk and looked the young wizard in the face.  
  
"Well, I don't know any Merlin personally…I believe he was a few years before my time, or his supposed sake that everyone keeps raving about, but yes, Professor, this is totally necessary." And before she could say another word: "And by the way, that is quite a lovely hat you're wearing today. One might say that the color brings out the fire in your eyes."  
  
For only the first time in the day, Professor McGonagall's lips moved into what was either a smile or a grimace, James couldn't tell because her lips were pursed together and rather thin. "Why thank you Mr. Potter for your fashion assessment but for once in your lifetime can you not bring your broomstick to class?!"  
  
There was an eruption of laughter coming from the sixth year Transfiguration class that echoed off the walls of this Hogwarts classroom. It had started in James's second year when he made the Gryffindor House Quidditch team and had accidentally brought it to class before his first practice of the season. Coincidentally, that same day, was the first exam of the semester in Professor McGonagall's second year Transfiguration class and (by coincidence or not) he had received the highest marks on that test. So now it was not uncommon to see James walking down the hallway, broomstick in hand to every Transfiguration test he had. "And I've never failed one test. If memory serves correctly, Professor, I've always had full marks…and," before she could protest any further, "Gryffindor has never lost the cup since I brought my broomstick to class."  
  
"Well, if you believe in that type of superstition, be my guest, Mr. Potter…"  
  
"I would love to Profess-"  
  
"After class, Potter." This shut everybody up, even the never speechless James Potter. "Now begin! I will not be giving extra time to finish the test so if there are any problems, then any of you are more than welcome to take it up with your Gryffindor Quidditch Captain, Mr. Potter." And with a turn of her heel, Minerva McGonagall walked to the front of the classroom where she stood before her large desk with parchment and quill in hand, ready to read directions.  
  
"Oh she's got you now, Mr. I-have-to-be-difficult. She better not suspend you from today's game. I've got a bet going on with Cyrano Oberlin from Ravenclaw that we're going to win and-"  
  
"Peter, I have repeatedly told you three things: 1)Never call me Mr. I-have-to-blah-blah-something or other. Prongs or James will do just fine thanks and 2)Gryffindor has never lost to Ravenclaw as long as I have been captain and they never will."  
  
Peter Pettigrew, a longtime friend of James, fourth member of The Marauders and fellow Animagus laughed under his breath, trying to keep it quiet enough so the Professor wouldn't hear him. "So, what's the third thing?"  
  
"What are you talking about, Wormtail?"  
  
"Well," Peter said, picking up the brick they were supposed to be transfiguring into a flower and looking at it quizzically, as if it was unlike anything he had ever seen before, "You listed two things you tell me repeatedly…what's the third?"  
  
James looked around the room before spotting a quite pretty blonde from Hufflepuff, and catching her eyes, winked. The girl averted her eyes, blushing quite profusely until she slowly turned his way again and smiled. "The third thing I have told you repeatedly is that," he said, turning back to his friend, "James Potter always gets the girl."  
  
"POTTER!" Came a yell from the front of the room and James quickly went about to the task of completing his test.  
  
SLOWLY   
  
"And furthermore, Mr. Potter…" She had really given it to him this time. Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor and soon-to-be Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts (the current, Professor Neplonein was retiring this year) really had fire in her eyes, and it wasn't the hat that brought it about. She had taken away ten points from Gryffindor already and swore on her Masters Edition of Transfiguration that she would give him a detention if he continued to be "cheeky" in class. "But," she continued. "In spite of all this…you received top marks on your exam. Those are some of the…most vivid flowers I have seen in some time."  
  
"Thanks, Professor," he said, smiling and began walking towards the door.  
  
"Well, one hopes that you will do just as well in your end of the year exams next week. And one more thing, Potter." He turned around, hoping that she didn't change her mind about detention. He couldn't stand another day of cleaning the paintings near the moving staircases. They always complained, except for the Fat Lady who seemed to like his scrubbing a little too much. "Do win the match today against Ravenclaw."  
  
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Grasping his broom tightly he left the room, only to be stopped by someone tugging at the back of his robes as soon as he turned a sharp left, heading towards the Quidditch Pitch.  
  
"You know, James," came the most familiar voice. A smile slowly crept onto his face as he turned around. "Only you could make Professor McGonagall ream you out and not give you a detention. Even though one of these days she's going to develop a nasty crush on you and then…"  
  
And then…and then there was a slight move of James's hand and suddenly she could only see white, with a touch of red. "Lily flowers for you… Lily Evans."  
  
"Oh James," is all she could say. For as long as either one of them could remember, they had been each other's best friend; since their first meeting in The Great Hall at their first day at Hogwarts to the present. Lily put up with his cockiness and his constant bad habits and he persisted through her famous temper and constant sarcasm. But no matter, they knew each other better than anyone else…even sometimes their selves. "Although these are rather beautiful-"  
  
"It's alright Lily, you don't have to thank me-"  
  
"I wasn't going to thank you, James."  
  
"You weren't?" One thing that Lily and James had in common was their perpetual need for excitement. They could be bored easily and they found out quickly that their attraction and bond kept them on their toes.  
  
"No, James. You may be in the running for Head Boy of next year but someone had to help you through Muggle Herbology because this is not a lily."  
  
"It's not?"  
  
"No," Lily said exasperated. "This is an orchid. A Dusky Maiden to be exact." For the second time today, James was speechless. "Yes, you're wrong. Bound to happen one of these days."  
  
"Really? And all along I thought I was James Potter: God of the Universe." This got a smile out of her and before long she started laughing which only caused him to laugh as well.  
  
"Well Mr. God-of-the-Universe, you better get to that Quidditch Pitch soon. I'm pretty sure the rest of the Gryffindor team would be ecstatic if you missed the final game of the season. It's almost quarter of."  
  
"Bugger! I'm missing warm-ups!" He gave Lily a quick wink before flashing her a smile as he ran off. "Don't miss my game!"  
  
"Not even for the world!" She yelled back. Lily stood outside the Transfiguration room, ignoring the death-glares from all the other girls around her. It was common knowledge that their relationship was strictly platonic but that information would not stop every girl from wanting to be in Lily Evan's shoes. She watched as he ran around the corner, saying something inaudible as he disappeared, but suddenly the bouquet of white orchids melted away and in their place was a single, quite large lily flower. Her smile faded as she touched the silky-smooth petals. The pure white color was almost blinding, like an angel's robes and the green underneath, the stem, was as green as a tropical rainforest. "I can't believe it," she whispered to herself, even though she could. James was always finding ways to amaze her.  
  
Lily turned around, totally engrossed in the flower when she ran right into…  
  
"Remus!"  
  
"A lily for Lily. I suppose that's from James." Remus said, smiling…very peculiar-like, like he knew this was going to happen and became bored of it.  
  
"What is it, Remus?" She said, crossing her arms and glared at him (mockingly of course).  
  
"Whatever do you mean?" He said, putting one arm around and guiding her towards the spectator entrance of the Pitch. It was routine for him to meet her after the last class before a Quidditch match. James always had to be there early and Sirius extra early as he was commentator, so Remus and Lily always sat together in the Gryffindor box and cheered for James and laughed at Sirius, such the jokester.  
  
"Oh stop that My-name-is-Remus-and-I'm-soooo-innocent act! Every time you refer to James and I when it's just you and me together…you always have this quality about you…that you know something that we don't."  
  
"Glorious weather for Quidditch today, wouldn't you agree, love?" He said, sliding his arm from around her shoulder to offering it to Lily. She took it, but a little reluctantly as she wanted to know certain information.  
  
"Remus! I want to know that something!"  
  
Remus scoffed and just rolled his eyes. "Lily darling, I love you like a sister, I really do, you know that, but honestly! You can be so naïve at times…"  
  
"I am not!" She said, and slapped his chest playfully, her mouth dropping to the extent her jaw would let it. "How do you base that decision?!"  
  
"Oh, Lily, isn't it obvious?" Remus said as they started their walk across the grounds, the Gryffindor Quidditch tower in sight. After she didn't make a move to prove that it was anything other than obvious, Remus rolled his eyes and just handed it to her on a silver platter: "The poor bastard's in love with you."  
  
"Oh don't be silly, Remus," Lily laughed. "If James Potter is in love with me then I'm the Queen of England." And to this, Remus jumped in front of her and made this huge gesture of bowing to her. A few second year Hufflepuffs stared at them. "Stop that!" She said, grabbing his arm and making him stand up, to which he laughed.  
  
"Anything Her Majesty wishes. I proclaim my allegiance to the thrown," he said with a smile and a gleam in his eye.  
  
"What a mood you're in today! Why are you so happy?" Remus just smiled and looked away as they sat in their front row seats. Lily followed his line of sight until she came across a pretty Ravenclaw by the name of… "Rosalyn Hartwell! You finally asked her?!"  
  
"Yeah, thanks to you." Lily watched as they waved to each other. Rosalyn had mid-length black hair that she usually kept in two braids that were held up in the back; an enthusiastic girl that was known to be nice to most everyone, just like Remus. "She's really something."  
  
"Well, if anyone deserves happiness, it's you, Remus." Just last year, Lily found out that Remus Lupin was somewhat of an anomaly, or a werewolf to be exact. Even though the rest of the Marauders trained gruelingly night and day to become Anamagi so when Remus transformed during the full moon, they could be with him at the Shrieking Shack. Since Sirius, James and Peter weren't in their human form, Remus, in his werewolf state, never harmed them. In fact, they kept him company. Remus had always had the knowledge of who he was in the back of his mind and that's where he preferred to keep it most times.  
  
"I never told you this, Lily but…Rosalyn knows." He didn't need to go any further, she understood what he was referring to. Lily didn't say anything as she let Remus continue. "I needed to send an owl to my cousin in Australia and I knew that the regular Hogwarts owls couldn't make it so I asked if I could borrow her barn owl. She agreed and it's a long story but…she read the letter. I doubt it was by accident and it's really my fault anyways but…she never questioned it. She wasn't even…she never judged me, Lily. Not once. That's when I knew."  
  
Lily smiled and squeezed Remus's hand. "That's wonderful."  
  
"Yeah, I thought so," he said, rubbing Lily's hand and then letting it go. "Anyways, the game is about to begin. Do you think Sirius can go one game without bashing the non-Gryffindor team?"  
  
"Of course he can," and to this Remus was shocked. "Then again, I apparently am the Queen of England so I suppose anything's possible…"  
  
"If you don't want to see what's right in front of you-"  
  
"What's right in front of me is my boyfriend of two years, Lance LeRoux." And not only was Lance LeRoux Lily Evan's boyfriend, he was the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team and was almost as popular as James. Almost. He had long dirty blonde hair that he normally tied back, even though some of it ended up around his face and he always sported a black hoop earring in one ear.  
  
Remus looked out onto the pitch and saw the two teams lining up with Lance and James about to shake hands. "So the two of you are back together I take it."  
  
"We never really split up in the first place," Lily said assuredly, although Remus detected just a hint of doubt.  
  
"Then he wasn't eyeing Yancy Merwin the other day. Must have been another tall guy with one earring by the name of Lance LeRoux."  
  
"That's simply not true, Remus. I know The Marauders are all best friends and you all try to protect each other and whatnot but…"  
  
"You're one of us too, Lily and-"  
  
"Thanks, Remus. But honestly…me and James…it's stupid! He's my best friend. You don't date your best friend and if you're going to lie about my boyfriend-"  
  
"Speak of the devil…"  
  
Flying up to the Gryffindor box was a bold move, even for Lance LeRoux. He was in enemy territory. "Hey you. Wish me good luck before I…no offense…squash your team."  
  
"Well, good luck but…no offense…James is going to beat your ass."  
  
"He'll only beat my ass if the bludger doesn't beat his first…" And the rest was mumbled under his breath. Remus looked as if he could kill and before Lily had to play moderator in an all out war between the two, she kissed Lance quickly.  
  
"Now, now Lily Evans," came the loudest voice in all the school and right now, the whole Quidditch Pitch; it was none other than Sirius Black. "Stop fraternizing with the enemy. We don't want any Benedict Arnolds. And if you're going to kiss anyone, make it someone from Hufflepuff. At least they can play Quidditch without acting like a bunch of pri…Professor! I was going to say prats! Honestly, now! What do you take me for?! A foul-mouthed rogue commentator?! I think not!" Sirius said, quite innocently and dramatically. Most of the audience was laughing, even some of the Slytherins who normally hated Gryffindor.  
  
As soon as Lily wasn't looking, Lance made an inappropriate gesture to Sirius before flying back to an irate-looking Professor Aristol, who obviously didn't care for Lance's act of chivalry. The whistle was blown and the game began.  
  
Remus was still laughing at Sirius's commentary, however, when Lily crossed her arms angrily. "For once I wish you would all…and by that I mean you and The Maruaders, would just stop acting like a bunch of first years and just be nice to him. He's not a bad guy."  
  
"Yeah, Lily. And Quidditch is just a sport." He started to laugh once more but after looking at Lily, who he realized liked Quidditch well enough, but she probably didn't have Puddlemere United posters over her dormitory walls, stopped his chuckling. "Look, you like him, that's all well and good but after what happened last year…"  
  
"You were trying to jinx him behind his back! He was right for taking away those house points."  
  
"Lily, he cost us the House Cup!"  
  
"No, Remus, you and those mischief makers cost Gryffindor the House Cup and furthermore…" But Remus wasn't paying any attention to her. He was staring out onto the Quidditch Pitch where James had made a spectacular escape from a bludger. James began flying around, waving his arms in glory, when from out of nowhere, another bludger came flying at James.  
  
"Watch it mate!" came Sirius's warning, but not before it hit James's right arm and almost knocked him off his broom. Lily had stopped rambling off to Remus only moments before it happened. Her hands had flown right to her mouth when it did and she watched intently as James steadied himself and looked around for the culprit…and when he spotted him, laughing with his teammates, James went flying straight for Lance.  
  
"Rip him a new assho…Professor! That was on purpose, that bludger was!"  
  
James and Lance were in the middle of some words, when Lance threw a punch at him. James quickly answered back with a few of his own and before long, the other Ravenclaw beater, Johnny St. Claire, began beating up on James as well. Within a few minutes, all of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor team were in an all out war.  
  
"What does he think he's doing?! That stupid prat!" Lily was yelling, but it was in vain, because everyone around her was yelling, and her own voice was easily drowned in the noise. Sirius's voice, however, was heard quite clearly: "Well, you're not going to get all the fun!" And Remus looked over to see Sirius attempting to climb his own broomstick to help James while Professor McGonagall had taken away his microphone and thrown it into the pitch, then began tugging at Sirius's robes to keep him from creating more of a disaster.  
  
"Twenty points from Gryffindor Mr. Black! And I'll take away fifty more! I'm warning you! MR. BLACK!" Sirius had just flown away on his broom, which really wasn't necessary, since the fight had landed on the ground. Most people stayed in the stands to watch but a few Ravenclaws had retreated from the boxes.   
  
"This is mad, Remus!" But as soon as Lily had turned to talk to him, she found him gone. Her eyes made a dash to the pitch and sure enough, she saw him running across it, towards James and Sirius. Even Peter was there, although he was dodging defensively more than he was fighting. "Oh those stupid boys!" Lily said, yet again, to herself and strode down to where the action was and started to pull people apart with a rage unlike herself, straining to get to James and Lance.  
  
"Get out of my way Leopold before I stun you!" Lily had yelled. "All of you stop this nonsense before I bewitch you this side of the moon! Don't say that Remus! I'm a goddamn prefect and I'll do whatever the hell I want!" At this, some of the people had stopped fighting and gaped at her. Lily hardly swore, and the fire behind her eyes sent Peter scurrying away. She strode up to the two idiots in the center and watched them for a mere second. By now, Professor McGonagall, a little disheveled after her fight with Sirius, had calmed most people down and began sending the Ravenclaws off to their head of house and told the Gryffindors to go back to the common room and wait for further instruction.  
  
Remus had stayed behind with Sirius to watch Lily. The looks on their faces showed that they were either a) amazed b) frightened or c) too hurt to move, although it was probably a combination of all three. They intently followed Lily as she strode up to Lance and pushed him aside. "Idiot!" She yelled as he fell onto the ground. The two Marauders on the sidelines grabbed each other's arms.  
  
"If she dumps the stupid git, I don't care if McGonagall takes a hundred points from Gryffindor!" Sirius said, obviously excited. He sounded like a child in Honeydukes with a pick of the place.  
  
"She must, I've never seen her so furious before. It's hard to tell which is redder, her hair or her face," Remus agreed, also smiling. "I'm sure James will be…"  
  
"And YOU!" Lily screamed, rounding about to the last boy standing, blood running down his forehead. "You egotistical coward!"  
  
"Lily!" James said in astonishment. "He's the fucking coward!" Professor McGonagall was either too stunned to take away points for language or was watching intently with the others as Lily reamed James out.  
  
"What do you know about chivalry, James?" Lily said, lowering her voice. She was clearly on the verge of tears. "You think every girl is a prize. You think you can just give them a flower and then they'll just bend over backwards for what…you? James Potter?"  
  
James took a few steps forward. Sirius and Remus couldn't believe that his eyes were just about as dark as hers, just about as sad. They had never had a row before, and even though she always thought he was self-centered, she would never tell him. James never cried, he never would go this far. But of course, it was Lily, after all. "Lily…you don't mean that." He took her hand in his and held it tight, like it contained his whole world in her skin. "I am ten times the man LeRoux will ever be. And you know that."  
  
SLAP!  
  
James stumbled back a few steps, his hand that once held Lily's now holding his own face where a bright red handprint now was. "Lily I-"  
  
"Stop it, Potter." Even Sirius flinched at the use of his surname. "I know nothing of you…you're not a man. Just a scared…little…boy. Just a boy." And with that said, Lily took the flower from her robes and threw it at James. She gave one look at Lance before he nodded and followed her away from the pitch.  
  
As Lily passed Professor McGonagall, she stopped her. "Evans, I'll need to talk to you in the common room, with the other Gryffindors. Your-"  
  
"I know, Professor." The Transfiguration teacher, looking like a much older fifty-seven than she was now, simply nodded her head. "Thank you." And in just a few moments, Lily had left the pitch with her boyfriend trodding behind and made off to Hogwarts.  
  
SLOLY  
  
Once all the Gryffindor Qudditch team plus what was left of the Marauders had gathered in the common room, there seemed to be quite a difference in the change of atmosphere. Well, at least for James. Most everyone but the infamous Marauders were talking violently about what had just happened and some of them were even thinking about overriding McGonagall and going straight to Albus Dumbledore, although everyone knew that was just wishful thinking.  
  
In the corner, with blood still dripping down his face and onto his Quidditch robes, sat James Potter. Sirius was next to him at the table, not saying anything either while Remus sat on the floor, mixing up a thick concoction of yellow goop.  
  
"Prongs," Sirius finally said quietly. "She didn't mean it. Any of it."  
  
"Thanks Padfoot but she did. And it serves me right." James looked at his best friend since the brawl. "I am a coward."  
  
"Take it back." Remus looked up at Sirius, who, for the first time, seemed to be mad at James. "James, you are the bravest person I know."  
  
"Reckless is more like it."  
  
"No, no…that would be me. You're the logical one and I'm the dreamer."  
  
"Actually Padfoot," Remus said, adding a green herb to the mix. "I'm the logical one, you're the dreamer and James, although reckless at times, is the unsung hero."  
  
"Unsung hero?" Sirius said. "Thank Merlin…I know what Prongs sounds like in the shower. Let's keep it unsung."  
  
James cracked a smile but it was gone in an instant.  
  
"James, if you wear your heart on your sleeve, you're bound to get crushed." Sirius looked quickly to Remus, seemingly a little unsure of himself before looking back to James. "Lily has a boyfriend."  
  
James raised his eyes to Sirius. "So." He said, threateningly. It was a statement, not a question. He didn't want Padfoot to continue, but he knew he would.  
  
"I'm just saying that…that maybe you should…uh…stop."  
  
"Will you stop speaking in Troll and tell me what the hell you're saying?"  
  
Remus stepped forward as translator. "What Padfoot is failing to say is that, we don't want you to get hurt. Maybe you should just drop the whole Lily thing."  
  
"What Lily thing?" James said, on the verge of yelling again.  
  
"Well if you love the girl, knocking her current boyfriend to oblivion might not be the way to win her over," Sirius said, finally able to speak his mind. Remus was waiting for the recoil, but Sirius sat there, determined.  
  
"Oh…that Lily thing. Uh…right." James took the soaked yellow bandage that Remus had offered him. "Thanks Moony." He put it to his cut and he felt the pain melt away. He wanted to swallow the rest of it. "Look…I know you're trying to lift my spirits but you can't help who you…care for," James said, dodging the word 'love' rather uncharacteristically uncouth for James. He rarely used the word, and when he did, it was an absolute truth. He wasn't sure if he loved her…what if it was all just a dream he made up? "She's my best friend…outside of the Marauders of course, Wormtail," he told Peter as he joined in on the conversation.  
  
"Then what are you going to do?" Wormtail asked unsurely.  
  
James searched the floor, perhaps hoping that the rug would burst open and divulge all the plans he needed to get Lily out of limbo and back again. After a few minutes (the rug lay still), he looked to his friends. "I don't know."  
  
"I'm disappointed in you, Prongs," Remus said, standing up next to Peter. "Obviously this girl has you by the balls because you're not even sane enough to formulate a plan." Peter sniggered while Remus continued. "Honestly now…tisk, tisk."  
  
"Well now, Moony," Sirius said, rising from his chair and clapping his hand on Remus's shoulder and giving him a mock sympathy look. "We can't be so harsh on young Mr. Potter, after all he just had his heart trampled on."  
  
"By no less than a hundred ravaging wolves."  
  
"True, Wormtail," Sirius said, smiling at Peter's rare wit. "Maybe we ought to-"  
  
"I think I'll try talking to her," James said, standing up and looking at Sirius. Padfoot stared at him.  
  
"Are you mad?"  
  
"She'll kill you."  
  
"You can't change her."  
  
"Perhaps not, Lupin." Everyone turned to the doorway where Professor McGonagall was standing. The Gryffindors subconsciously walked together to form a not so straight line, like they were receiving sentences for Azkaban. "But your business is not with Lily Evans, it is with me. I am ashamed that my house, that is to say, the House of Gryffindor, would act with such idiocy. Twenty points from Gryffindor from everyone who participated in today's wonderful act of sportsmanship."  
  
"But Professor! That's…" Sirius did a quick count of the heads. "That's one hundred and eighty points!"  
  
"Well now that we know that Black can at least count, I'm going to take away another ten points because of you Black, awarded for your genius commentary and recklessness towards a teacher-"  
  
"Professor!-"  
  
"AND another thirty points from Gryffindor because of Ms. Evans and her-"  
  
"But Professor McGonagall!" James had spoken instead of Sirius this time and he stepped forward so she couldn't pretend that he just wasn't there. "Why thirty? Lily was just trying to stop the rest of us!"  
  
"As honest as her cause may be, she still took physical act against you Potter, as you can clearly recall if you just look in the mirror, and she did it in front of a teacher no less!"  
  
"Oh come on, Professor," Sirius said, also stepping forward. James was very thankful for this. "We do stuff in front of you all the time and we only get twenty points!"  
  
A few fellow Gryffindors laughed at this, but the look on McGonagall's face silenced them almost immediately. "Well that may be true but you, unlike Ms. Evans, are not a prefect! But not anymore. Her privileges have been stripped and her badge has been revoked. Lupin!" Remus looked up and almost didn't catch the metal object that was not tossed, but thrown at him. "I hereby bestow upon you the responsibilities of a Gryffindor prefect, if you can handle it." Professor McGonagall looked at her students in front of her, all looking somewhat ashamed before saying, "And Mr. Lupin, if you don't straighten these imbeciles out, I swear I'll find a way to turn back time and make sure the Sorting Hat places you in Hufflepuff!"  
  
As she turned towards the door, a rather hesitant James said quite clearly, "What about the game, Professor?"  
  
She snapped back so quickly it almost made the Gryffindor's heads spin. "If you are referring to that lousy piece of playing out there you call Quidditch, then it has been rescheduled for next Saturday, after the final exams. And if you aren't the best bloody chaser out there, Potter, I'll remove you from the Gryffindor team!" With that said, and her anger indulged, Professor McGonagall didn't give either of her house members another look before she left the common room, magically slamming the door behind her to which the painting on the other side did not appreciate.  
  
Peter turned to the guys, looking for one of them to say something, so he thought he'd break the silence. "Moony…you're a prefect. Congrat-"  
  
"Shutup Wormtail."  
  
"Sure…R-Remus." 


	2. The First Crossing

Author's Note: Here's the second chapter, as promised. Let's hope I can spit out another one tomorrow! And thank you all for reviewing! It's readers like you that really make writing worth while.  
  
Disclaimer: As aforementioned, Harry Potter, that is to say: characters, places and unoriginal history is from the ever brilliant mind of JK Rowling.  
  
Chapter Two: The First Crossing  
  
James Potter sat in his final examination of Transfiguration and had yet to transfigure the piece of branch in front of him into an eagle. With twenty minutes left in class, it wasn't looking hopeful. Sirius must have been thinking the same because every five minutes he nudged James and said something to the extent of "Are you trying to fail?" and "Well done transfiguring that branch…wait, never mind. It's still a bloody branch." James really didn't care much. His eyes might have been on the dull brown brush on his desk but his mind was clearly elsewhere.  
  
This whole week of finals had been absolutely brutal. James was sure that he had done well enough but he was overridden with such guilt over Lily that his mischief making had decreased to an all-time low. What made it thirty times worse was that every time he had tried to talk to Lily, all she had said was a lousy "Goodbye" or "Is someone talking to me?" or even "Well, it's off to makeout with my deliriously good-looking and talented boyfriend" which made James boil to the point that all three of the Marauders had to restrain him.  
  
"Prongs…what are you waiting for? Next Christmas? Bloody hell, mate." And without another thought, James calmed his mind, concentrated as hard as he could on the branch in front of him and muttered the incantation under his branch. Sure enough, the brush in front of him transfigured into a magnificent eagle, whose wingspan was equal to his desk. "Blimey," James heard Sirius whisper before James had begun to stroke the eagle's feathers absentmindedly, to which the eagle replied with a weird cooing noise.  
  
"Nicely done, Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said. James looked up, not even realizing that she had ever been there. She leaned down to him to whisper, "Although why it took you nearly an hour and a half is beyond me." He looked away from her before she clearly spoke the reverse incantation and took away the branch from his desk. James had never felt so…awkward in his life. Unpleasantly so. There was a permanent knot in his stomach. He hated being at odds with people, especially any of the Marauders and Lily. There was only a quick stint in his third year when him and Sirius weren't talking but that was easily resolved. This was different. Lily was…well, feisty…and stubborn.  
  
After class had ended, most of the students had left, as this was most everyone's last final and triumphant yelling was soon heard in the hallways, a certain celebration of the end of term. Sirius only needed to take a few steps to stand beside James.  
  
"I'd ask how you did but that would be rather pointless, now wouldn't it? Top marks as usual, Prongs." James didn't say anything. He was too busy watching Lily approach Professor McGonagall. On her desk was the supposed eagle, which looked more like an oversized barn owl. If James wasn't mistaken, those were tears in her eyes… "Well, thanks for asking how I did. I pulled that exam off quite nicely, I have to say. What's that you say James? Oh! I'd love to go plant some dungbombs in-"  
  
"Not now Padfoot." James gave his best friend a quick look. Sirius was a jokester, but he was just about as passionate and understanding as James could be.  
  
"Right," he said, gathering his stuff. "I'll be in the common room with Remus." And then he added, quite hastily, "Good luck."  
  
"Thanks," James muttered, only out of habit for being wished good luck. He managed for a few minutes to be seemingly preoccupied with gathering his books and such as Lily finished talking to Professor McGonagall. James could only manage to hear bits of the conversation.  
  
"…I haven't been myself. If I could just-"  
  
"I'm sorry, Ms. Evans. Now, I know you're a very capable witch, the most talented girl of your year in fact, but I cannot give any exceptions."  
  
"But Professor!"  
  
"Ms. Evans, I daresay that…oh, for the love of Merlin! Mr. Black! Must I remind you how many points you have cost Gryffindor already this year?!" And with that, the Professor had swept out of the room, ready to chase down a jinx-happy Sirius. James couldn't help but smile, but it soon disappeared as he turned to face Lily.  
  
She was standing where Professor McGonagall had left her, yet staring out into the hallway as she watched Sirius running the Professor in circles. She began to laugh and James thought at that moment, that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Even with the tears running down her face, her laugh brought back the happy and most lovely Lily Evans, the girl he had fell…no, he hadn't. There was sexual tension, sure. But that was only because they were hormonal teenagers and had been close their whole school lives, he told himself.  
  
He approached her quickly, half-jogging up to her side. "Only Sirius Black could be so graceful," James said, as he watched Padfoot bump into a third year Slytherin, letting Professor McGonagall finally catch him. James and Lily watched as she began dragging him off to her office. He quickly escaped back to the classroom window to wave at them before he ran off to the Professor's side ("Only joking, Professor!").  
  
"Graceful? Idiotic is more like it," Lily said, the laughter leaving her throat. She walked to her bag at her desk, ignoring the greetings of the large barn owl/eagle as she packed up her books and wand.  
  
"Well, we can all be a little stupid sometimes."  
  
"Tell me something I don't know," Lily said angrily, as she shoved the owgle off her wand.  
  
"Lily, I'm sorry. I really am."  
  
"If you're so sorry, you shouldn't have done it to begin with. Oh shutup!" She yelled at the owgle. She grabbed the wand from her bag and tried using the reverse incantation, but it wasn't working. James took out his own wand and said it properly, allowing the owgle to transfigure back into the brown branch. "Do you always have to showoff, James?"  
  
"I wasn't-"  
  
"It doesn't matter," she said quickly while strapping her bag together. "You never think before you act! Not with the teachers, not with your house, not with your enemies and surely not with your friends!"  
  
"Lily, just hear me out! Lance started it and you even saw it! But you don't dare believe it because you're too blinded by your…whatever it is you feel for that great prat."  
  
"James, unlike you, I can separate fact from fiction. I know he started it but for once you could've been better than that-"  
  
"You mean better than him. It's not exactly hard Lily and-"  
  
"No! Why couldn't you have been the bigger man for once?! I know you're better than all of that! You're the most…" And by this time, she had started to cry again, and her voice had lowered considerably. It was just below her normal speaking voice. She started to move around, her body couldn't decide whether she should just leave for the door or stay where she was. Her hand was to her mouth, a position that James was quite familiar with. "You're so talented, and bright…you're the smartest person I know."  
  
"That's not true, Lily," he said, chancing a step towards her. She didn't move. "Without you I would have never been any good at Herbology."  
  
"You've always been good at anything you wanted to be good at. You just hate that new Sprout woman. You've got to give her a chance. She's not used to teach-"  
  
"Lily…" She looked to him, right through him and he felt like a clean rush of air had just swept through his insides. "I'm sorry. That's all I can say except…I'll never like Lance. I've tried it's just-"  
  
"You have never tried to like any of my boyfriends. You even hated Sirius when we dated our third year…not that we lasted but…you hate seeing me happy."  
  
"That's not true. How can you say that? Lily, you're always happy with us…with the Marauders, even if we cause you to worry…we cause you to laugh. You never laugh with Lance."  
  
"That's a lie, James Potter!"  
  
James didn't say anything for a moment, to let her settle down a bit. "Well, that may not be true…but you cry an awful lot."  
  
Lily had nothing to say. She didn't have any time to divulge whether this was true or not. She quickly strapped her satchel shut and flung it over her shoulder. "No matter how many tears I shed because of Lance, it'll never compare to the oceans I cry for you, James."  
  
Lily didn't waste another moment standing in front of the boy who could transfigure his way out of anything, while she was stuck with half-eagle, half-barn owls on her desk. As she made her way to the door, there was a loud explosion and the hall outside the classroom was full of screams. Suddenly, students were running past the Transfiguration Classroom and fleeing away from…something.  
  
James, out of instinct, grabbed his wand from his bag and then immediately went to Lily's side. Lily dropped her bag from her shoulder and opened it clumsily and quickly scrounged around for her wand. Once she had it, James looked to her. "I'm going to look, get my back, Lily."  
  
She nodded and stood up from her spot where she had fell after the explosion. Her legs were a little shaky at first, but once she saw the look of determination and courage overcoming James's face, she became a little more certain of her actions and she stopped shaking. Rising to the edge of the door she looked towards the left, watching out for anything while James stepped almost completely out of the classroom. Lily could feel him right behind her and suddenly, her hand was in his and James was pushing her back inside the classroom.  
  
"James-"  
  
"Giants."  
  
Lily's mouth dropped as the grip on her wand tightened. She had heard him wrong. "What?"  
  
"There are giants in Hogwarts, and they don't seem to be stopping by for a spot of tea." James ran his fingers through his hair, a move he always performed out of habit. He seemed to be thinking.  
  
"Well, the teachers must know," Lily said, suddenly finding that she could talk once again. "But James…what are they doing here?"  
  
"I don't know," he said, holding her hand a little tighter. James quickly stuck his head out of the classroom and then ducked back in once again. "Alright, Lily…I don't see any teachers in this hall."  
  
"Well there are probably more than a few…the professors must have their hands full."  
  
"Exactly. Which is why you need to go and round up any sixth and seventh years you can."  
  
"What?" Lily said, watching James act so perfectly calm. It almost made her relax knowing he was so confident if it wasn't for the horrible grunts from the giants and the matching screams of students…or maybe those were from the teachers too?  
  
"Go get any prefects you can…and if you can find the rest of the Marauders, especially Sirius and Remus, you all need to come back here as soon as you can."  
  
"And what are you going to do? Hold them off by yourself?"  
  
"Well there isn't anything else-"  
  
"These aren't hippogriffs in Care of Magical Creatures James! They're Giants!"  
  
James turned to Lily. "I know what they are, you just need to have a little faith in me, Lily. I'm going to be that bigger man you were talking about," James said, a little unconvincingly.  
  
"James, if you think I am going to leave you here by yourself with a giant than you have another thing coming. You either come with me or-"  
  
"Lily, you're almost scary when your eyes are all narrow like that." And with one swoosh of a cape, Remus, Sirius and Peter materialized in front of James and Lily. Sirius was almost smiling, wand in one hand and James's unmistakable invisibility cloak in the other, to which he tossed to James. "Had to borrow it."  
  
"Understandable," he said, catching the cloak. "So what's going on outside?"  
  
"Well, as far as we can tell," Remus said, kneeling down with James and Lily; Sirius and Peter followed in his wake. "The teachers, most of the prefects and higher years are fighting off about twenty-five Giants in the courtyard."  
  
"Dumbledore's furious. I've never seen him so angry," Peter added. He was shaking almost as bad as Lily was, and doing horribly to try and hide it. It was remarkable enough he had managed to not stumble and stutter over his own words.  
  
"The rest of the students are behind the outer most part of the lake, guarded completely by that Giant Squid."  
"What do you mean the rest of the students?"  
  
"Well," Sirius said. "There are the ones fighting…and I bet some are still hiding in the castle and then there are the…injured ones."  
  
"Injured…" Lily began but James put out a hand in protest.  
  
"Look, we have to do something about those three other trolls in the hall because Dumbledore has enough to worry about."  
  
"B-but P-p-prongs-"  
  
"Peter, there's five of us…and we're all capable. Four of us can easily fit under the invisibility cloak," James said, as he heard crashing outside the Transfiguration Classroom. For once in his life, he wished it would have been Peeves. "And the other one can act as a diversion. Now who-"  
  
"Me." The four Marauders, looking the most serious they ever had been in their entire lives at Hogwarts, looked to Lily.  
  
"No," James said, his face a little white. "You're staying in this classroom. If anything happens, you need to go warn the teachers."  
  
"James that's-"  
  
"NO." It was final. James ran to the back of the room and took a branch from Professor McGonagall's box. "We have a diversion." Within moments, a large eagle sat on his arm, it's talons digging in to his skin. He didn't even chance a look at Lily as spread out the large invisibility cloak and swirled it quickly around the Marauders. She heard some whispering from somewhere in front of her, but the sound of James's voice moved towards the doorway and then out into the hall.  
  
Lily sank to the ground and edged her way to the door of the Transfiguration Classroom. She kept herself low as she looked out into the hallway and almost had to bite her own tongue to stop the scream omitting from her throat. Three large giants, all exceeding twenty feet in height, were roaming around the end of the hall. The one in the middle, a particularly large giant, had some sort of armor over his chest and a large helmet on his head, with two dragon horns coming out the sides. The other Giants had headpieces as well, although theirs was less menacing and more or less resembled large plates of steel hastily beaten together to resemble a helmet. They were just standing in the middle of the hall, looking into classrooms for any sign of students and although Lily doubt any of them could fit inside the doorway, the large stone and wooden clubs they were dragging behind them could easily allow them access to any room they wanted. Lily became very nervous.  
  
Please let them be okay she said to herself. As she watched the three giants, drag their large bodies through the hallway, more towards her with every step, she felt more inclined to shut her eyes, but she couldn't even will herself to blink. She was completely focused on what was happening in front of her. If only she could help…  
  
Suddenly, and without warning, the small giant to the left (if that can even be said), looked straight at Lily. She quickly dodged back at the room, hoping the Giant hadn't seen her. Oh no…please, you didn't see me. Lily held her wand to her chest and quickly scanned her brain for any hexes, curses or jinxes that she could use. And with all her experience in witchcraft, especially in Charms, Lily couldn't think of a one spell that would be useful towards a full-grown Giant.  
  
And then, quite distinctly, she heard the largest Giant, from beneath his dragon-horn helmet say in a very low and rumbling earthquake voice, "Lilllllllyyyyyy." Such a beautiful name withered into rot and decay as soon as it left the Giant's mouth.  
  
Lily's eyes opened especially wide and she couldn't help but to think it said my name…it wants me. Why? Why? Why did it come for me? But her ponderings were cut short as she heard the high-pitched and threatening screech of James's eagle, followed by the sound of stone wall cracking. Lily had to see. She just had to. Without thinking twice, she stuck her head out from the classroom to see the large eagle flying rapidly around the top of the hallway, taunting the Giants below, whose clubs connected only with the walls of Hogwarts and nothing more. It didn't last for long however, the middle Giant's club hit the eagle with a sickly thud and the piece of branch fell to the ground. The Giants, seemingly upset that they failed to kill something and feeling tricked, turned towards Lily once more, with an unmistakable vengeance and anger in their dark black eyes.  
  
Just as all the Giants were facing towards the classroom Lily was taking refuge in, four wands appeared from under the cloak and a unanimous "DIFFINDO!" was heard, causing the helmets and chest piece of the Giants to fall to the ground, the leather straps breaking instantly. If possible, the Giants looked even more infuriated than before. The middle one, appearing more ravenous by the second, pointed a thick finger at Lily and emitted a noise that sounded like a mix of a scream and a roar. The four wands transpired once again and an undivided Conjunctivitis Curse was yelled from underneath the cloak. It seemed to have worked on one of the Giants, the smallest of the three, who immediately cried in anguish and began to swing his weapon at anything he could, including the Giant to the right of the helmet-horned one. The regular-sized Giant began beating on the other one and by this time the invisibility cloak had been shed, and a determined bunch of sixth years stood before the Giant walking heavily towards Lily.  
  
"STUPEFY!" the four yelled, but it only managed to anger the Giant more. The only thing they could do was try to hit the Giant in the same spot again and again, with a hope that its rough skin would start wearing away. But no such thing happened. The Giant began to pummel towards them at somewhat of a run, which seemed more like an irritated jog. Sirius, James and Remus jumped out of its path, but poor Peter Pettigrew was too late, and the Giant used its large hand to bat him away, as if he were a fly. Peter flew to the wall next to the other Marauders, hit it so hard that it cracked and slumped to the ground. Remus went to his side while James yelled "Take him upstairs!"  
  
Lily didn't know what to do. James and Sirius were trying to stop the other Giant coming towards her while trying to dodge the fighting of the other two Giants, but nothing was working. Sirius dashed quickly out of the way of the smallest Giant's stone club but just barely. A crater lay in the place where he stood just barely seconds before. She felt helpless, but she wasn't going to let two of her friends be trodden upon because the Giants had come for her. The whole school was in jeopardy because of her, even though she had no clue why. This wasn't how it was going to be.  
  
Daringly, Lily stepped from the classroom and stood in the middle of the hallway. "LILY! NO!" She heard James yell and from Sirius, "GET BACK IN THERE!" But she ignored them.  
  
Lily looked right into the Giant's eyes as he staggered towards her, raising his club as he did so. He was only about ten feet away from her as the stone mallet came down with such speed she never expected, but Lily was ready. She ran out of the way to her right while the giant reared his club again and went again to strike. Lily could barely hear Stunning Spells from James and Sirius but she tried to blur them out of her mind as she concentrated on what was going on. She had never been more unsure and scared in her life, but she had to do something. For some reason, she felt the Giant was acting peculiarly slow. When she had watched it with the eagle, the Giant had moved unnervingly fast, but he was purposefully slowing down his actions, careful not to hit her. He wants me alive she told herself…I can use this.  
  
As Lily watched the club come down towards her again, rather slowly compared to the eagle, she dived out of the way to the left, only feet away from the classroom door. But this time, as the Giant looked towards Lily as a point to strike again, she mustered up every last bit of concentration she could gather and every final ounce of vigor and pointed her wand to the Giant's point between its eyes and bellowed quite clearly "CONFUNDO!!!". A streak of red emitted from her wand and hit the Giant between the eyes and possibly into one of them. He roared once and then confusion came over him so much so that he fell to the ground and began to roll around slightly, seemingly unable to control his own body movements, but unlike the Cruciatus Curse, he didn't seem to be in any pain.  
  
Lily fell to her knees, quite winded from the amount of energy used and suddenly, by her side, was none other than Professor Albus Dumbledore. "Lily, are you alright?" Lily managed to nod her head as Dumbledore beckoned Sirius and James forward. "Where are Peter and Remus?" he quickly inquired.  
  
"We sent them upstairs after Peter was…" Sirius couldn't finish, he was so overcome with exhaustion, or perhaps he didn't want to think what had happened to his friend. "But…we managed to use the…the Impediment C-Curse."  
  
Dumbledore looked past them to see the two fighting Giants slowly fighting each other. If the time at hand hadn't been so serious and daunting, it would almost have seemed comical to watch their slow-motion battle. Professor Dumbledore pointed his wand to the two Giants and performed the Binding Spell on the two. Instantly two chains, as strong as dragonhide, wound themselves around the Giants and they fell to the ground. He turned to the last Giant, still slightly moving on the ground, small gurgling noises escaped from his mouth and his hands were slowly searching the floor beneath him, looking for his stone club. Dumbledore quickly Binded him as well before he looked to Sirius.  
  
"Please go find Remus and Peter, who I'm sure are already on their way to the hospital wing and escort them to Madam Pomfrey. Then if you could, Sirius, please go to the lake and help Professor McGonagall with anything she needs." Sirius nodded quickly before running past James to the hall doors.  
  
Dumbledore then turned to Lily. "Can you stand?" he asked softly. She too nodded. No one seemed to be able or want to speak. "Can you make it to my office?" After another nod, Dumbledore said, "The password is Chocolate Frog, Lily," he said, grabbing her hands and hoisting her gently to her feet. He kept one hand on her shoulder. "I will be up shortly." Lily began to walk towards his office, looking at James right before she turned her head to leave. James thought he saw something in that look…  
  
"Can I go with Lily, sir?" He said, cutting the distance between himself and Dumbledore. "Please?" Professor Albus Dumbledore considered it for a moment before he looked to James.  
  
"I'm sorry, but I need you here, James."  
  
"But Professor I-"  
  
"James," he said softly yet firmly and James knew that was the end of that. "If Lily would like you to visit her in the Hospital Wing after our conversation, then you may visit her and Peter later tonight."  
  
"Yes, sir," James said dully and watched Lily until she rounded the corner and then out of sight. He turned to the Headmaster, not sure of what to do. "Uh…Professor Dumbledore?"  
  
But the Professor wasn't giving James his full attention. He walked around the Giants looking at each of them in turn, before rounding on the largest one, still apparently confused. "Such a strong Confundus Charm. Did you perform this, James?" Dumbledore asked quietly.  
  
"No, sir. It was Lily." Dumbledore didn't seem surprised by this information, quite the opposite of Sirius and James's reaction when they had seen such a strong spell take down an adult Giant.  
  
Dumbledore, looking a little older than he was, placed his wand on each of the Giants in turn, muttered a spell that James could not hear and each of them disappeared, as quickly as the struggle had came.  
  
"Where are they now?" James asked.  
  
"In a dungeon they cannot escape."  
  
"Azkaban?"  
  
Dumbledore looked at James. "No, not Azkaban…that place is tainted now."  
  
James wanted to further inquire why Azkaban wasn't suitable for Giants, perhaps the most vicious of creatures, as well as ask a million other questions but, upon looking at Dumbledore, he suppressed the urge. He did have one uncertainty that needed to be answered: "Professor, uh…the Giant said something."  
  
Dumbledore didn't say anything for a moment. Instead, he placed his wand to his forehead and then into the air in front of him. James thought this to be a peculiar move, but didn't ask further about it, just waited for Dumbledore to respond. "Really," he said softly.   
  
James was looking more from Dumbledore than a 'really', perhaps he was looking for the same uncertain excitement and nervousness that he was feeling, but he pressed on. "He said 'Lily'."  
  
Dumbledore's head stayed where it was, but if James wasn't mistaken, there was a sharp flicker in the way his eyelids seemed wider than before… "Quite interesting," he said slowly, and then nothing else.  
  
When the silence seemed to be going on forever, James cut in. "Professor Dumbledore-"  
  
"James," he said, finally looking into his eyes. "A time will come, hopefully much later than I assume, when the ones we love…the ones we truly care for," Dumbledore added, putting only a smidgen of emphasis on 'care'. He continued only after a short pause, "Will all be in great danger." James wanted to say something, ask even more questions than before, but he just listened to Dumbledore, intent on remembering everything…as if he could forget. "But before this time, we must hold to the bonds that make us stronger. You and your friends, though reckless at times," Dumbledore added, making James flinch but he calmed after seeing the look in his Headmaster's face. Was that a hint of a smile? "Have overcome what they are to love each other. Perhaps your feelings of benevolence are contagious…an old man could only hope."  
  
"Professor Dumbledore…what's going on outside of Hogwarts?" James knew that Dumbledore would never put any of the students in danger, but the message he had just told James seemed more like a warning than fatherly advice. "Is it like Grindelwald?"  
  
Albus Dumbledore's eyes quickly found James. The feeling of defeating the Dark Wizard Grindelwald, though over thirty years old, still lay fresh in his mind. "No, James. Very unlike Grindelwald at all."  
  
James did not have time to ask whether this new danger, this new threat, was worse than Grindelwald or not. There had been reports, deep within the pages of The Daily Prophet, behind the gossiping voices of Hogsmeade of the rise of a Dark Lord, or a new Dark Era. But it was just rumors, old shadows of Grindelwald and nothing more. Perhaps the wizarding world was too at rest, too at peace…the calm before the storm. 


	3. Schism

Author's Note: Thank you all for reviewing! As most of you are probably writers, you know how rewarding it is to get reviews, so I ask you all to please leave something, positive or negative. And since I'll be returning to school on Sunday, the chapters may be few and far between but I'm going to try my hardest to spit one out at least every week or so. Why can't there be another day in the weekend?! Honestly now kids…whoever created the calendar sucks. If I were to go back in time and sit with the Greeks or whoever, I would definitely vote on Friday being a day in the weekend because honestly, no one puts an effort into Fridays anymore. You know you just sit at your desk at school or in your cubicle and count down the hours until you can go home. Anyways…on with the story!  
  
Disclaimer: Yup, I own every part of Harry Potter…wait, no…that's JK Rowling.  
  
"I know the pieces fit cause I watched them tumble down, No fault, none to blame it doesn't mean I don't desire to Point the finger, blame the other, watch the temple topple over. To bring the pieces back together, rediscover communication."  
-Tool "Schism"  
  
Chapter Three: Schism  
  
The next day, James awoke very early, far before the sun had even began to think about appearing. He didn't even have to pull himself out of bed before he hastily put on his robes and walked down to the common room, intent on keeping himself busy until eight o'clock, when he could finally go the Hospital Wing.  
  
As he walked into the common room, the fire automatically lit at the timing of his presence and James walked over to a corner and slumped down into a chair. He didn't want to see what he looked like in the mirror, although he could care less. James knew his hair would be sticking up in all directions, as usual, but he also could tell that there were deep bags under his eyes and that his lips were cracked in some spots. His throat felt like it was on fire but he soon forgot about it as he replayed the events of the night before over and over in his head.  
  
After he had left Dumbledore, James had done what the Headmaster had said: he went to go help Professor McGonagall. But on the way there, something peculiar had transpired:  
  
"Snape…what are you doing here?"  
  
James had run into Severus Snape, another sixth year, but belonging to the house of Slytherin instead of Gryffindor, sitting on the stairs leading down to the lake and acting as if nothing had happened.  
  
"Well, if it isn't the Quidditch Hero himself, except this time you lost your stupid game over a stupid mud blood-"  
  
"Don't you dare call her that you slimy-"  
"Or what," Snape said. He stood up, daring James like he had asked. "You'll jinx me? I wouldn't try…I know a few jinxes myself, ones you wouldn't be able to find in most standard teaching books."  
  
"I don't doubt that Snivellus…but why don't you go crawl into that black hole of a Slytherin common room before you end up bludgeoned like LeRoux, except this time you're nose won't be broken…I'll rip it off."  
  
"Temper, temper, Potter," Snape said, striding past him in a few long, yet slow steps. "You would do well to save your strength for the…events ahead."  
  
James turned around quickly, but Snape did not comply, instead, he kept his back to Potter, only rotating his head slightly so the profile of his hooknose could be seen rather plainly. "What events?"  
  
"The Quidditch match," Snape said, as if this had been the event he had been talking about the whole time. "I daresay you'll need the vigor, as you can't rely much on your brain."  
  
James had taken enough, he grabbed Snape by the top of his cloak so suddenly that even Snape seemed a little taken aback. "If you ever insult Lily, my friends, or least of all, myself ever again…the only thing people will have left to remember you by is your grave in Knockturn Ally."  
  
Snape just smiled, that creepy upturned frown of his, and James released his robes, careful not to get any filthy Snivellus grease on his hands. Snape just held his eyes to Potter before he slowly turned around and strode down the hallway towards the dungeons.  
  
As James looked back on that, something just occurred to him: Why had Snape been sitting undisturbed on the steps, as if he had just come from watching the whole Giant battle? Although he knew that Snape had not fought against the teachers and students of Hogwarts, not defending them would be just as horrible. James wouldn't have put it past him. The anger quickly subdued as he looked up to see Sirius emerging from the dormitory stairs. He walked over to where James was sitting and threw himself into a chair next to his best friend.  
  
"Couldn't sleep either, I suppose," he said, yawning. "I've been up half the night just thinking…and I never do that." After James didn't laugh, Sirius sighed a very undramatic, unSirius sigh. It was real. "I think Peter's going to be okay. He was just knocked out. I think all the baby fat on those bones of him protected all that really mattered anyways. We should be able to see him when the Hos-"  
  
"Padfoot," James began and then went into the story of how he had seen Snape sitting on the steps outside of the hall.  
  
"I think you're right, mate. I bet Snivellus just sat on those steps, swimming in the hope that we would all die." Sirius just sat in that chair for a few moments before he slammed his fist onto the table, awakening James completely. "I really, really hate him."  
  
James just nodded his head, "I know, Padfoot. We all do. It goes beyond whatever he's done in the past. He's totally obsessed with the Dark Arts."  
  
A few minutes in silence and then Sirius began rubbing his forehead, as if a thunderstorm was at the corners of his temple. "Did you get to see Lily yet?"  
  
"No, not yet. Madam Pomfrey would have nothing of it."  
  
"Yeah, well…you know her. She practically threw a bottle of Skele-grow at me when I just asked nicely."  
  
"It's only because you cause about a quarter of the injuries that turn up in the Hospital Wing," James half-laughed, the first time since yesterday afternoon. It seemed like forever ago, even though the memory was still searing in his brain…but for a moment he was trying to forget.  
  
"A quarter?" Sirius questioned, sounding absolutely astonished. "I'll have to disagree with you. I claim, at the very least, a third." They both shared a good laugh on that one. After settling down, Sirius decided to turn, well, serious. "Well, before all the destruction and mayhem started, did you get to talk to Lily?"  
  
James took in a deep breath. "Sort of."  
  
"How do you sort of talk to someone?" James just shot Sirius a look. "Ah yes…well it is Lily so I'm guessing that she ran circles around you until you stood there looking like a complete idiot."  
  
"How'd you know?" James said sarcastically. "And it wasn't an idiot so much as an asshole."  
  
"That far into the dark abyss, eh? Well, what did she say to make it that bad?"  
  
"She told me that it didn't matter how much Lance made her cry because it doesn't compare to the oceans she cries for me…or something to that extent."  
  
"Blimey, Remus was right. She does have you by the balls, mate." James just sat there, quiet. He was looking for a little bit more than crude honesty. But, as always, Sirius complied to his unspoken request. "I know this might not help much, but you're not an asshole. You're a teenager and we're going to screw up every now and again. I mean, this is when we make mistakes, figure out what works and what digs us to our graves earlier then imagined." James sat there, looking at his best friend, not knowing what to say except knowing that he was right. Sometimes he couldn't believe at how adept Sirius was at telling you exactly what you needed to hear. "But if she wants to let you go over a row you had with that troll of a boyfriend of hers, then maybe you should start considering other options." Uh…sometimes he was adept. Other times…not so much. "Just kidding, Prongs!"  
  
At that moment, Remus stumbled down the stairs. He stopped at the bottom and looked at the two. "It's seven-thirty and you're both up? Did Azkaban freeze over?"  
  
"Not yet," Sirius said, laughing. "We were just discussing Peter's well-being and…Quidditch."  
  
"Oh really," Remus said, dragging another chair over to the table. "So Padfoot, what kind of odds do you think Puddlemere United has for competing in this Lily Evans…I mean, World Cup." Sirius started laughing.  
  
"That obvious, eh?"  
  
"Not really, it's just that your voice has a way of carrying itself."  
  
"All the way to the dormitory?" Sirius questioned, smiling.  
  
"No, but I'd have to say to the first fifth or sixth step," James said, beginning to smile as well. It was times like these he was thankful for his friends. They kept his head on straight and his brain from exploding…his heart from imploding with guilt and grief and now the added frustration with what was going on at Hogwarts, not to mention the outside wizarding world.  
  
"So," Remus said, looking to his watch. "It's nearly seven-thirty. I'm sure by the time we get to the Hospital Wing-"  
  
"That leaves about fifteen minutes to badger Madam Pomfrey to let us in early," Sirius finished.  
  
"Right, let's go," James said quickly, wanting to see Peter and especially Lily. They set off for the Hospital Wing, which was a good fifteen minutes away and after a five minute stint with Peeves, they finally saw the familiar doors leading to the place where they, themselves, had been quite a few times. Upon further discussion, James and Remus decided that Sirius should stand in the back, seeing as how they thought that Madam Pomfrey would not like to be greeted first thing in the morning with a smiling Sirius Black.  
  
Remus stepped forward and rapped on the door after all agreeing that since he was now a prefect, he would make the best impression at nearly eight o'clock in the morning. They heard the quick and pointed steps of Madam Pomfrey clicking their way towards the door. It flung open and they tried not to make their faces show any change at her appearance. It seemed like every hour had inflicted ten years on her life. James wondered if all the teachers looked a thousand years older.  
  
"More injuries?" She asked, scanning each of them over for any wounds, even Sirius.  
  
"No, we're fine," Remus said, and now the Hogwarts Nurse looked much younger with a rage deep inside. Moony went to the task of calming that straight away. "But it's important that we see Peter Pettigrew and Lily Evans."  
  
"I didn't let you see them last night…what makes you think I changed my mind today?"  
  
"Well," James continued to Remus. "Professor Dumbledore said we could visit them last night and-"  
  
"If Dumbledore said it was alright then he must have his reasons," Madam Pomfrey said, surprising all three of them, but not looking any less angry at the sudden disturbance from her work. "You can come in BUT-" She added, before they rushed passed her and through the doors. "Keep your voices down and if you so much but utter the word 'Giant' in MY Hospital Wing then I'll force feed you Gillyweed and shove you into the lake." Was it just James or was every teacher using threats lately? He shrugged it off since they all seemed to be under quite a lot of stress with the end of year exams and now with the Giant Incident.  
  
They followed Madam Pomfrey through the row of bed, curtains up on every side, shielding some of the worst cases from view. James's stomach dropped into his intestines. What if Lily was behind one of those? But that was stupid, he told himself. She had just been in shock. She should be sitting here, waiting for them to come.  
  
Madam Pomfrey stopped at one of the beds with a curtain around it. She talked to them in only hushed, yet harsh whispers. "He was having nightmares all night, disturbing the Evans girl next to him." James's eyes quickly dashed to the sleeping figure behind the curtain that he could not see. The only thing visible was a lump at the end of the bed under a blanket, presumably her legs. "Poor girl couldn't sleep. Though I doubt that was from Pettigrew's dreams." Her eyes flickered to each one in turn, as if instilling into their souls what she said next. "You have no more than half an hour in here before you're going to have to leave." James felt like arguing the point, thirty minutes wasn't nearly enough time. But he felt speaking would cause him to be in another one of these beds. "After such you are expected to report back to your dormitories where you will begin packing before a late breakfast at ten o'clock."  
  
"Packing?" Sirius questioned, careful not to raise his voice over a whisper.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Black, packing," Madam Pomfrey answered, still in that angry voice of hers that none of them recognized at all. "The Minister of Magic seems to think that you all need to go home immediately."  
  
"But why?" Remus asked. "Hogwarts is safer than anything out there," he said, gesturing to a window. James could see the dark tops of the Forest in the background… "Even if a bunch of G-…I mean…you know…things broke into the castle. Imagine what will happen back at our homes."  
  
"Don't think that hasn't crossed Professor Dumbledore's mind. He tried to insist that you all stay here but the Minister won't have it! He's already sent owls to everyone's parents telling them what happened, even before the Headmaster could write to them himself. The Minister has gone and gotten everyone into a downright state of paranoia. Talk of Dark Lords and…" Madam Pomfrey stopped herself and suddenly her emotional rant had piqued and a few tears escaped. "Just…just forget all of that! Now, remember, half an hour or I'll chase you out!" She said, walking away from them, shaking her head and mumbling to herself all the way to the Hospital Wing door again, where she answered the knocking of an equally distressed Professor Sprout.  
  
"What was that all about?" Sirius asked. "The woman almost burst into flames."  
  
"Don't know," Remus said. "But if we're leaving Hogwarts and the Minister doesn't think this place is safe with the most powerful wizard in existence, then-"  
  
"Nothing must be safe anymore," James finished looking at both of them. "You two stay here with Peter. Padfoot, tell Moony about the Snape thing-"  
  
"What Shape thing?" Remus asked, looking to James and then to Sirius.  
  
"I'm going to talk to Lily and hopefully-"  
  
"Uh…I don't know if that's going to be entirely possible," Sirius said, looking beyond James to behind the curtain where Lily was. James turned around and if it was possible, his stomach sank even lower than his intestines. He stepped to the right a few more steps to take into view all of Lily's bed and there…  
  
Lance LeRoux was sitting in a chair next to Lily and whispering to her something that James could not hear. If only he had gotten there quicker, James thought. He had been up all this time, why hadn't he just stormed to the Hospital Wing and demanded to Madam Pomfrey to be let inside? He watched as Lance talked to her, holding Lily's hand, touching her hair. James was supposed to be there. He was her best friend, after all, not some uncaring twit who would leave her behind in a few months for the next girl that gave him one bit of attention. James was more than upset, more than angry, he was completely heartbroken and hating himself more by the second.  
  
Lance must have felt a pair of eyes on him, burning through his skull because he looked up and their eyes locked in a deadly dual. Lance didn't look so upset as he did angry, and perhaps even jealous. But this quickly faded into a slight and sickening smile, which also washed out as fast as it had appeared. With one deliberately slow move, Lance found the curtain behind him and wrapped it around Lily's bed. She was gone.  
  
"Prongs-" Remus had started but James was still looking at the curtain. When he looked to them, there was nothing on his face but hurt.  
  
"Come on, let's see how Peter's doing," James said and without another thought to it, James grabbed the curtain and opened it to the fourth Marauder. 


	4. Here In My Head

Author's Note: Here it is! The fourth and final chapter! Woah, kill the motor dude…just kidding! No! Lots more chapters to go! And yet again, a huge thanks to all of you who have reviewed, this chapter, I dedicate to all of you! Even if your review was just three words or twenty-five, it still makes me excited and happy every time. Alright, enough with the sap and let's see some magic!  
  
Disclaimer: What? What was that? I don't own Harry Potter, characters, unoriginal situations, etc.? Well, that's a shocker!  
  
"In my head I found you there  
  
and running around and following me...  
  
I'll show you the roses that brush off the snow  
  
and open their petals again and again  
  
And you know that apple green ice cream can melt in your hands  
  
I  
  
Can't...  
  
Do you know what this  
  
is doing to me?  
  
Here in my head."  
  
-Tori Amos  
  
Chapter Four: Here In My Head  
  
At the late breakfast that Saturday morning in the Great Hall, the ambiance was entirely gray, matching the enchanted dark cloudy sky above. Each long wooden table, filled with somber and scared students, ate their breakfast in somewhat of a quiet nature, the only sound was the clinks of forks against plates and the dull mutterings of one student to another. This was most of the tables, except for Slytherin, whose table was duller than usual, but none of the students at that table looked frightened over the events of last night, in fact, a few of them seemed to hold a smile throughout the duration of the meal.  
  
Towards the end, when either everyone had had their fill or decided that they might throw-up if they ate a single bite of food, the moment every student and teacher had waited for came. Headmaster of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, Albus Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwamp and Order of Merlin First Class, stood at the teacher's table. Each head turned towards him, waiting for him to speak. They did not wait long.  
  
"Students and teachers, Slytherins and Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. The events of last night are known to everyone in this school, for you all experienced it. The reason behind the sudden appearance of the Giants into Hogwarts is yet to be known, but one thing can be said." Everyone in the Great Hall was hanging on to Dumbledore's every word. No one ate, no one talked, no one dared to even move. Sneezes held themselves, coughs were suppressed, slinking back into the throat. The clouds of the enchanted season seemed to be moving much slower than before, almost afraid to pass, to not hear what Dumbledore had to say next. "What I say now stems from my belief that to be prepared means to know the facts, the truth and it is my conviction that every student, teacher, every witch and wizard needs to know and understand what is occurring in the wizarding world. You must be prepared." He took another pause. Time seemed to slow down and all but stop.   
  
"Not every wizard is good. You have learned in your History classes about Dark Wizards and I am sure your parents can tell you about Grindelwald and his years of power, the terror that he inflicted on the wizarding community. I am afraid that such an era has risen again." There was a small uproar in the Great Hall. Most people talked to the person next to them in urgent whispers. A first year girl sitting at the Hufflepuff table gave a small scream before clutching to the fifty year boy sitting next to her, who gently put his arm around her. After a moment, everyone was quiet again, looking to Dumbledore as if he were a parent who would guide them through the roughest spot in their lives. "This wizard has been gaining power and the aide from other creatures. I suspect that the Giants were only the first of his followers. There are other wizards of course and more Giants I presume, but I doubt we'll be seeing any more of them here. There isn't much that the Ministry knows now, just the fact that he is steadily becoming stronger. There is not a doubt in my mind that you will be hearing more of this wizard in the future."  
  
However, I cannot emphasize enough that each and every one of you must be prepared for what is to come. Watch for signs, prepare yourself and embrace each other in this time of need." Dumbledore took another slight pause before he continued. Most people were still hushed, completely silent. "He goes by the name of Lord Voldemort." At the sound of his name, most people didn't move, just suddenly becoming aware of the identity of the wizarding community's new foe. "This summer, I wish for all of you to keep your eyes opened, keep up your studies in Defense Against the Dark Arts and come September 1st, most of you will be back at Hogwarts, for yet another year." He ended with a short smile before a grave look came over him, but it quickly vanished as he turned to a portly wizard beside him.  
  
James looked to his best friends, The Marauders. Sirius was unusually quiet and he just sat, staring into his hands as if they were tea leaves, begging for them to spill the future. Peter, across the table, was still looking at Dumbledore and Remus (next to Peter) was the only one who seemed to have digested it all. "I know we're leaving soon but…I have a feeling I'd rather stay."  
  
"As do all of us," Sirius said, raising his eyes from his hands and looking around the table. Peter had stopped looking at Dumbledore and he was nodding his head.  
  
"I wonder," Peter said slowly and then trailing off to give it a thought. "I wonder…what's going to happen this summer." Sirius shot him a look of disgust. "Oh shove it, S-Sirius. D-Dumbledore wanted to prepare us and if we ignore this then…then-"  
  
"You're right," James said, finally. He shoved his bowl of oatmeal farthest away from his mouth as he could manage. Nothing seemed good anymore. "Which is why I think you should all come to stay with me…in Godric's Hollow."  
  
"Well then, I won't have much to move," Sirius said darkly and then tried to force a smile. Ever since he left that Dark-Arts infested cauldron he called a home last summer, he had been staying with James and the rest of the Potters. They had welcomed him like family, which is exactly what Sirius had needed, but he never went a day at that house without helping Mrs. Potter with the cooking and clearing of the table, or give Mr. Potter a cup of tea when he came home from a rough day at work with the ministry. Being an Auror wasn't easy…  
  
"You should write to your parents now and see if you can come," James said, standing up from the table. Professor Dumbledore had written to every family whose offspring were attending Hogwarts and told them of the current situation. Some had come to pull them out of school immediately and others had decided that Hogwarts was the safest place to be, even in regards of the recent attack. Those who stayed had a whole week.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Remus asked.  
  
"I need to see Lily," he said simply.  
  
"Well, good luck, mate," Sirius said, finally dawning his usual self, a wide grin on his face. "Let's see how far you get separating her from the human Bludger." Conveniently enough, James watched as Lance gave her a kiss on the cheek and departed from the Great Hall, leaving Lily very much alone. "And that," Sirius concluded. "Is why Merlin hates me…and plots my downfall every day."  
  
James laughed and patted his friend on the shoulder before he went to go sit next to Lily at the front of the Gryffindor table. Oddly enough, she welcomed him with a smile and offered part of her rye toast.  
  
"No thanks, Lily. Food doesn't seem to be necessary for survival at the time being."  
  
"Yeah, I know," she said, letting the buttered piece of rye fall to her plate. "I wonder what is to come this summer."  
  
James smiled. "You know, Peter wondered the same thing."  
  
"Did he now?" She said, then scooted over closer to James and let her head rest on his shoulder. The effect was that his heart started to beat faster and he could feel his palms sweat already.  
  
He exhaled slowly. "Lily…I want you to come stay with me this summer." She removed her head and looked into his eyes, her mouth slightly open. "At my parents house, I mean. All the Marauders are going to be there and we can all practice our Defense Against the Dark Arts and you can watch me act like a fool playing Quidditch." She didn't say anything. "Please, Lily. It's safe there and you my dad, there isn't a ward or protection spell he won't have up." She was quiet still. "What else am I going to have to do to convince you, Lily?" He said, half-jokingly.  
  
"Oh, it's not that, James. You don't know how much I would love to stay with you and your parents are amazing and there's nothing I would rather do it's just that…Lance asked me to stay with him and his family and my parents agreed right away. They know what's going on and they think it best if I'm somewhere protected in the wizarding world and-"  
  
"Lily, how do you know it's safe there?" James asked. "Yeah, so his dad is an Auror too, but my father said he barely passed the test."  
  
"But he passed, didn't he?" Lily said, getting a little angry. "And you can't always believe what other people tell you."  
  
"If you're telling me that my father is a liar then-"  
  
"No, that's not what I'm saying at all, James. But he already asked me and I wouldn't mind spending more time with him and-"  
  
"What did Dumbledore say to you?" James said, suddenly completely and blindly angry. He didn't want Lily seeing more of Lance. He could have understood if it was anyone but that idiotic, cheating, great prat of a-  
  
"It is none of your business what Professor Dumbledore and I discussed," Lily said, just as angry but lowering her voice to a harsh whisper. "Neither of us invited you, least of all me."  
  
"What does that mean?" Lily suddenly turned red and looked away from him and towards the soggy piece of rye on her plate. "Did you tell Lance what Dumbledore said?"  
  
"Not everything and-"  
  
"Dumbledore told you in secrecy for a reason, Lily! You can go and be stupid all by yourself and date that idiot but don't be stupid for the rest of the wizarding world."  
  
That had done it. The red was flushed from Lily's face before he had even finished his sentence and her head had whipped right around to face him. "James Potter," she started, almost growling. "If you don't ever talk to me again, I wouldn't regret it."  
  
"I love how you can read my mind," he said and after that, Lily threw her rye toast at him and then got up from the bench. "Have fun this summer, Lily! Drop an owl when you're not too busy having sex with that-"  
  
SLAP!  
  
For the second time in the past few days, another hand had imprinted itself onto James's face, but this time it was with much more force.  
  
"I hope you rot!" Lily yelled before she walked out of the Great Hall, anger covering every inch of that pretty face of hers.  
  
"Apparently Merlin hates you today," Sirius said as James finished his story of what happened nearly an hour later in the Gryffindor common room. He was still pretty livid, even after his walk outside to calm him down. That didn't work, it only made him even more angry. "Well, no need to worry, mate, because you get all of our company this summer."  
  
"That's if our parents will let us," Peter added.  
  
"Oh Wormtail, no need to be the killjoy," Sirius said. "Of course they'll let you."  
  
But that was seemingly not the case at all. By Monday, Remus had received word from his parents that he would be coming home on Wednesday, not to the Potters and Peter had received similar news except he would be leaving-  
  
"Today?" Peter said, opening up his mail on Tuesday of that week. "Why don't my parents understand? They don't have a clue who this Voldemort is nor what he could do."  
  
"No one knows the full extent, Peter," Remus said in their dormitory after breakfast. He was already packing the remainder into his trunk, hence, throwing them haphazardly in, occasionally landing into the black case.  
  
"Well, Wormtail has a point, Moony. If a shitload of Giants can make their way into Hogwarts under the nose of Albus Dumbledore, then I think-"  
  
"He was just testing how far he could go," Remus finished for Sirius. "You're right, Padfoot." After a moment of silence, he turned to James. "When are your parents coming?"  
  
"Wednesday, I suppose. There's no use staying here if the rest of the Marauders are leaving."  
  
The rest of the morning moved along slowly, only entertaining at times with games of Exploding Snap and "Let's play less guys…" Was a suggestion by Sirius but 'less' was actually L.E.S. (Lily Evans Sucks). No one had any real interest in playing that…least of all James, who was trying so hard not to even think of her. But of course, as the world would have it, wizarding or not, the one person you never want to think about is invading your head. Which was exactly the case of a one Mr. James Potter.  
  
At about quarter of eleven o'clock that morning, James, Remus and Sirius walked down with Peter to Hogsmeade, where Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew would be picking him up. It was an odd departure, because they all had the same thing on their minds…  
  
"I promise to write," he said hastily as his parents took his trunk from him. He looked to them all, his eyes a little bloodshot and said, "And please watch yourselves this summer and well…goodbye then."  
  
"Bye, Wormtail."  
  
"You better write, man."  
  
"Try to convince your parents to come for a week, alright?"  
  
Peter nodded and gave a short wave before he ran after his parents, already quite ahead of him. Eventually he disappeared into the crowd-like fog of Hogsmeade and it was then that James pondered how much a threat was this Lord Voldemort? If anyone would know, it would be Professor Dumbledore. And come tomorrow, Remus would be gone as well, leaving only himself and Sirius as the only Marauders together.  
  
The next day, Mr. and Mrs. Potter arrived at Platform 9 ¾ to greet them, just as James knew they would.  
  
"James! Sirius!" Mrs. Potter said, quite relieved that they were here and pulled them both into a hug, even though they were quite taller than she. "Oh boys, I'm so glad you're coming home!" And after she finally released them, Mr. Potter hugged them as well, to the surprise of James. He and his father were close, but normally they either shook hands or Mr. Potter gave him a fatherly pat on the back, but he too seemed quite reassured to see them. "How was your school-"  
  
"I'm sorry, dear," Mr. Potter said, cutting off his wife. "But we really ought to be leaving…you know why, Sarah." She only nodded and followed him out of the platform. It was only when they were climbing into a taxi James felt it safe to talk to her.  
  
"Dad's really serious about all this."  
  
"Yes and so should you, James." His mother had always been so kind and gentle, patient and helpful, but now she seemed to be lacking in some areas, a little stern in others.  
  
"Mum-" James said, trying to get his mother's attention. But she was elsewhere, looking to her husband and then off into the distance.  
  
"I wonder what this summer will bring…" 


End file.
